Desert rose
by moonlight64
Summary: " She was lying in the middle of a desert, all alone, with just a backpack next to her.** Jane woke up to the sound of quiet water next to his ear. He looked around and saw nothing but stones. " Jane and Lisbon are exposed at different places in the wilderness; both without any idea how they got there. Their mission is clear though: finding each other before it's too late. *Jisbon*
1. Chapter 1

Slowly her eyes fluttered open and she stared into the cloudless sky. Groaning she stretched her tensed muscles and sat up. Confused she looked around, taking in her surroundings.

She was lying in the middle of a desert, all alone, with just a backpack next to her.

Her clothes were covered with sand and dust and her skin arched from the burning sun.

Quickly she went to check her pockets, but realized that she had none. She wore dark green pants and a white, sleeveless shirt. Her heart started to beat faster and she was very aware of the danger she was being in.

Without thinking she touched her necklace and jerked. The cross was gone! Instead there was a ring on the golden chain. She removed the necklace and looked at the item. Wondering she twisted it between her fingers; it was Jane's ring. Why did she wear Jane's ring on her necklace and why wasn't he wearing it?!

What if something had happened to him?! She felt a piercing pain in her heart at the thought of Jane being in danger. Quickly she put the necklace on again and then closed her fist around the ring. She would keep it as long as possible.

With a shivering breath she closed her eyes again; this just could be a bad dream.

But after five minutes she still was sitting in the bright sun, so she opened her eyes and moved to sit on her knees. This backpack had gotten her curious.

Carefully she opened it and first pulled out a brown leather jacket. Also in these pockets was nothing to be found. Then she found a metal bottle, but there was no water in it as she discovered next. Sighing she put it aside and searched through the remaining stuff in the backpack. Suddenly her fingers touched the dry fabric of paper. She grabbed it and pulled it out. It was just a small piece of paper with black computer letters.

_Find him… _Was the only thing written on it. Of course she knew who was meant with 'him'.

Whoever wrote this note told her to find Jane and she was completely sure that he was somewhere outside there as well. She had made her decision then; she'd find him, whatever it would take. With new energy, but also shaking hands, she continued looking through the stuff. There was a knife, a small box -empty unfortunately- and a rope.

She put it all back and stood up. After a few steps she stumbled and fell into the hot sand; how long had she been laying there? Her whole body was hurting like hell.

After taking a deep breath, she stood up again, grabbed the backpack and went into any direction, hoping she would see Jane only once more in her life. She really had to tell him something.

* * *

Jane woke up to the sound of quiet water next to his ear and the setting sun shining onto his face. He opened his eyes slowly and sat up. His head was hurting and he had to put his hands above his eyes because of the bright sunlight. Curiously he looked around and all he saw were stones around him.

Just a few inches next to him a little stream was making its way through the rocky landscape, on his other side laid a backpack. Only then he realized that he wasn't wearing his usual suit, but dark green pants and a simple white shirt with short sleeves.

He ran his hand through his hair, but suddenly stopped. Something was missing.

He looked at his hands and realized that his ring was gone! Shock let him take a sharp breath before he noticed another difference. He was wearing a chin around his neck, although he never had owned any kind of necklace nor wore one. There was an item on it, but he couldn't tell what it was until he removed the chin and stared at Teresa's cross. How did it get to him?

Again shock caught him; maybe something had happened to her!

He put it around his neck again and sighed. What was up here? How had he gotten into this place? He stood up and saw stars for a few seconds; he must have been unconscious for pretty long! Then he turned to the backpack and opened it. There was plenty of stuff in it, nothing which caught his attention. Just some tools, a jacket… Until he suddenly felt a small piece of paper. Quickly he pulled it out and read: _find her… _

The only one who could be meant was Lisbon and that made it so much worse for him. He just had to know if she was ok! Worry stared drilling into his heart and he had to close his eyes. He had to take her in his arms once more, had to tell her the truth!

The thought of her being in danger let him stand straight. Quickly he grabbed the backpack, filled the bottle with water and hurried over to the rocks. He would find her, doesn't matter what it would take.

* * *

She had walked for an eternity already, but still hadn't reached any point which at least gave her hope. The sun was still burning on her skin, although it was setting. Slowly her vision started to get blurred and her body got heavier with every step.

She just had to go on, no break, no rest. The thought of Jane made her going on and gave her the hope she desperately needed for each new step.

Suddenly her breath caught in her throat and everything she saw was black; a deep, smooth black.

" Teresa… " She heard a gentle voice saying. " Stand up… "

" I can't. " She heard now her own voice. " I can't… "

" Of course you can, just open your eyes and you will feel better. " She recognized the voice as Jane's and opened her eyes quickly.

The sight she had didn't change; darkness. But soon her eyes got used to it and she could see the frames of hills and the stars in the sky. Of course Jane wasn't there; it just had been a dream, her subconscious mind had made up to save her from death.

It was night; that was obvious. Only then she realized the coldness which numbed her body.

She wouldn't survive this sudden climate changes for long… But in that moment she just put on the jacket she had had in her backpack and stood up again. After walking some more time, which was a little easier now than during the day, she found a big rock which formed some small kind of cave. It was not much, but would protect her from the sunlight the next morning. So she kneeled down and climbed into the narrow space between the rock and the sand. Although she was thirsty so much it hurt, she forced herself to sleep. She would need the energy the next day.

* * *

As the night took over from the day, the burning heat was replaced by biting cold.

He had already put on his jacket, but felt like a sculpture of ice though.

It was so dark around him that he couldn't see his own hands, so he stumbled every five steps until he decided that it was nonsense to go on walking. Carefully he kneeled down and touched the cold stone he was sitting on. There didn't seem to be anything dangerous around, so he laid down and looked up into sky. The thought that she was being under the same stars made him feel more confident and he closed his eyes. He would need as much energy as he could get.

* * *

It started with a sudden bang; and then rain poured down onto the dry sand. The giant wall of water made the desert to a sea of sand; a murderous, troubled sea which was waiting for Lisbon to wake up. First there just were a few short trails, but soon real rivers were streaming into her little cave. Her clothes were wet within seconds and when she opened her eyes, the water was just about to reach her ear. She needed some seconds to realize what was going on, but then the shock caught her, she sat up straight and hurt her head on the ceiling of the cave.

Groaning she reached for her backpack and crawled out of the cave as fast as possible.

Outside the situation wasn't better; the rain was running into her eyes and made her shiver.

The ground under her feet was getting weaker and weaker and she slipped with every second step. Panicking she looked around, but didn't find what she was looking for. Squeezing her eyes shut, she ran up a hill, but never reached the top. After five steps the sand started flowing away under her feet and pulled her with it. Quickly she walked into another direction and then saw what might be her rescue; a big rock with a plateau on top. She ran over to it and quickly analyzed every inch of the surface; it was her change to get out of the steady flowing sand/water mixture! First she threw the backpack onto the plateau and then went to climb up as well. It turned out to be more difficult that she had thought, since the walls of the rock were all wet and with that slippery. She made a few attempts, but slid down again every time.

When she tried it once more, she got higher than before, but suddenly lost her balance again because of the heavy rain. A jolt of pain shot ran through her body when she landed on the ground, already sinking into the sand. But she ignored the pain and went to climb up the rock once more. This time she even reached the top and sat down on the plateau, digging her fingernails into fabric of the backpack. Her leg was hurting horribly and when she looked at it, blood was mixing with rain and dropping onto the wet stone.

Again she closed her eyes and laid head on top of her knee.

She missed Jane; she missed his with all her heart and desperately needed to find him.

Breathing now slower, she started playing with the ring and kept holding it tightly between her fingers. Without it she probably would have given up. The situation was so hopeless and crazy it seemed like an unrealistic dream. But now that she wore it around her neck, right above her heart, it reminded her of what she was fighting for.

He was worth every pain and she was ready to suffer for him.

'Okay, concentrate only for a second' she thought. How would she find him in this sandy hell? The only thing she could do was searching, but only when the rain stopped.

Until then she just could wait and hope for the pain to get less.

After some minutes of just staring into the nothing, her thoughts drifted off to Jane again.

She would tell him how she truly felt about him. But what would happen then…?

* * *

Jane was staring out into the rain from his place on top of an old tree. Honestly, he was surprised that he had gotten up there in less than twenty seconds. The ground under him was flooded, but in the moment he had other worries. The rain had woken him up early and he was sitting on this stupid tree since that moment. While this eternity he had been thinking of plenty of things. But well, most of them were including Lisbon. He just missed her really much… After one more hour the rain got less and Jane climbed down the tree; he had wasted enough time. Quickly he walked into the best looking direction, the thought that Lisbon could be practically everywhere made him feel dead. But he had her cross and it gave him hope!

In his time on the tree he had also guessed that she had probably his ring if he had her cross…

Whoever had planned this didn't want to kill them, but Jane didn't know what this all was about. The most important thing in the moment was to find Lisbon and he wouldn't fail this time. Without her he wouldn't go on with his life; that was sure. So there was no 'would', there was just a 'will'.


	2. Chapter 2

Teresa was surprised when the rain suddenly stopped. Within seconds the sun crept out again and let the water in the sand evaporate. With a quick, fluid move she grabbed the backpack and jumped down from the rock. When she landed on the ground, a jolt of pain ran down her injured leg, but she tried to ignore it as good as possible. The sand was not too wet anymore, so she didn't sink into it more than usual. Actually, she thought, this state of the sand was the best to walk on! So she quickly went in the opposite direction of where she had been coming out. Her stomach started rumoring after some minutes and she still felt thirsty.

But there was nothing else as sand and some rocks around, so she would've to stay without food and water for some more time.

After a few hours of walking straight, the sun had reached its highest point again and was burning horribly on her skin. Unfortunately she had dark hair; it was like a magnet for heat!

Also her surroundings got frustrating; the picture hadn't changed once in the last hour. Sand everywhere. She really needed a hint where to look for Jane! But since she wouldn't get one, she would just search everywhere in this damn hell of a desert.

When she stood on top of another sand hill, she looked around, protecting her eyes from the sun. There wasn't much to see, just more sand and rocks… But when she concentrated hard enough, she could see the frames of houses far away under the line where the blue sky met the white, hot sand. Quickly she memorized the direction she had to walk into and then ran down the hill, towards the houses. Maybe, just maybe she would get help to find him.

* * *

Jane had been walking for hours now and finally was out of the stony area and in the middle of… trees? How did that make sense? He had no idea where he was, but it didn't seem to be California. He kept walking straight into one direction, although he had no idea where to look for Lisbon. He just desperately hoped that she was ok… She just had to.

All what was left to do was searching everywhere possible and impossible.

What might she be doing in the moment? Maybe she was somewhere safe and didn't even know that he was out here looking for her. Or maybe she was somewhere close and he was just too stupid to find her. But he didn't give up; that was the last thing he would do in that moment. Slowly he got really hungry, but there wasn't anything he could only try to eat.

The ground under his feet changed some time later; it got more like the ground of a forest was supposed to be. But if this was a forest; where were the animals?

Sighing he looked around, memorizing every inch of his surroundings.

Suddenly he heard a strange noise and immediately hid behind a tree. That hadn't been a sound he had expected to hear; it sounded like a really big dog mixed with a scream of some crazy bird. He hadn't ever heard something like that before and had no idea what had made this sound. It came closer and was suddenly behind him. He turned around in shock, but didn't see anything. Panic entered his mind and he just started running. But whatever it was, it was following him and came dangerously close! He already ran as fast as he could, but obviously it was faster than him. When he stumbled over a root and fell, every feeling of life went out of his body. But the pain he expected never came. He just laid in the middle of the forest, on his back like a helpless beetle. No giant animal, nothing which could've caused the scary sounds. Quickly he stood up again and stumbled further through the forest. If that stuff happened to him, was it happening to Lisbon as well? He honestly hoped not.

* * *

When she reached the first house she was slightly worried. It had no windows, no front door and looked pretty lonely at all. The other houses were not better; nobody was there. Slowly Lisbon walked through lines of empty, half destroyed houses. She was all alone in a ghost town. A shiver ran down her spine as she searched through the small passages.

" Hello? " She shouted, although she didn't expect to get an answer.

Then she went into one of the houses, hoping to find anything useful there.

The first one was completely empty, so she went into another. After walking through this one as well, she discovered another door which led her to some kind of market place with a fountain. She dropped the backpack and hurried over to it.

Actually it was just a deep black hole, but to her it could mean the savage from death.

Since it was so deep she couldn't see anything, so she let down the rope with a pail.

She felt like in the middle ages, but that didn't matter; who knew how old this city was after all! After letting it down till the edge of the rope, she pulled it up again.

It was nearly up… She hoped that at least a little bit of water would be in it.

And for the first time her wish was being heard. It was nearly filled till the edge!

It smelled usual… But maybe there was something toxic in it…? Dammit, even if it was toxic she would drink it! But on the other hand if she'd die because of this, she wouldn't see Jane ever again. Suspiciously she dipped her hand into it and then waited some seconds; it didn't burn or something, so she took a little sip and waited for the taste to get worse, but nothing happened. Well, then it couldn't be too bad. Quickly she got the bottle out of her backpack and filled it with the cool water.

Sighing she sat down in she shade of a house, onto the dusty ground, and drank the water. Not too quickly, she knew that, especially now that she needed water so much. After some minutes she got up again and went to the fountain to get some more water, but at the sight which was in front of her, she dropped the bottle. A dead animal, like some kind of little lizard, was laying next to the pail, the water it had drunken still on the edge of the fountain.

Panic ran through her body and blurred her mind for some seconds.

This animal had died because of the water, that was sure.

' Great, ' she though, 'the water had been toxic. '

What was she supposed to do now? Wait until she died a painful death?

Her heart was racing; so fast it was nearly exploding!

All she had to do now was staying calm and think carefully.

She wasn't dead yet, that meant it wasn't that bad. Maybe it had just been toxic for an animal, not for a human…? She just believed in that and grabbed her backpack.

All she wanted was to leave this scary place! And she did so, fleeing like a scared animal.

She needed to find Jane, quickly!

* * *

The sun was already setting, but he didn't want to stop now. He hadn't seen or heard anything of this crazy animal again, so he had gotten pretty far in a short time. Now he was at the edge of this forest; in front of him less plants and more sand. Unfortunately it got dark and cold quickly so that he had to stop walking. Angrily he threw his backpack onto the ground and sat down. He really didn't want to spend another night out here, all alone, without Lisbon. The worry about her didn't let him sleep; he just lay on the ground and stared into the sky with all its stars. Out here, where was no light, you could see millions of them. They were so beautiful and he wished he could watch them with Lisbon. She was probably the only thing which was more beautiful than the star-filled sky. He really had to stop thinking about her all the time; he would never be able to sleep! He forced himself to think about something else, which turned out to be a bad idea, since he started worrying about that animal again… What had that been?!

Sighing he closed his eyes; the earlier he fell asleep, the sooner he would wake up again.

* * *

The sun was away, the darkness had returned, but Lisbon didn't stop walking. Her eyes were good enough to go on some more time. Honestly, she had more worries about this stupid water, but to her surprise nothing has happened yet.

The walking got really painful after some more time, but stopping was no option. She would fight like Jane would want her to.

After another hour, she was at the point where she didn't feel any pain anymore. Everything around her seemed so far away, every strep, every sound… Like if her body was just an empty shell which her soul had left long ago. If she would've stopped walking only for a second, she was sure she would've fallen into the sand with her face downside.

All she wanted was sleep… But what she desperately needed was Jane.

She started playing with the ring again, but soon her arm got too heavy and she had to let go.

'Only two more minutes… ' she thought, ' only… two… mo… '

Her mind felt too heavy, too blurred to think only one more straight thought.

Probably a robot would've looked more alive than Lisbon in that moment.

After a few more seconds her legs refused to carry her and she fell into the soft sand.

With her last powers, she put her backpack next to her, wrapped her jacket tighter around her body and curled up under the blue covers filled with stars.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun burning on his skin woke him up the next morning; was that really better than the rain? Groaning he got up and grabbed his backpack. Today he would find Lisbon, he could feel it! The landscape in front of him was filled with sand, rocks and bushes while the landscape behind him consisted just of trees.

It was really strange; he had never heard of a place like that! Obviously he was nowhere close to home. Around noon he reached an area which looked like a desert out of a cartoon; yellow hills of sand, cloudless sky and bright sunshine. If Lisbon was anywhere here he could search forever… No, don't think that! He was going to find her and then would never ever let her go again. This two days had given him a hint of what his life without Lisbon would be like and honestly, he knew what the hell must look like now. It might sound selfish, it was after all, but he was tired of sharing what was his; he was tired of sharing his Lisbon!

Then another thought crossed his mind; after he would've found Lisbon, how were they supposed to get out of this place? He still could worry about that later, so he just went on thinking about what his future might be looking like…

* * *

The sand under her sleeping body began to move; more and more until little avalanches started pulling her down the hill she was lying on.

The sand chafed her skin which made her wake up. Surprised he looked around and tried to get out of the sand, which worked better than she had imagined. Just her backpack was nowhere to be found… Carefully not to get into slowing sand again, she went up the hill to look for it, but it was gone! Just the knife was laying there buried under sand. Quickly she picked it up and sighed. Who hated her that much?!

Annoyed she started walking into the direction the sun was shining from. Maybe it was north..? This desert was worse than hell, it just could be! She felt horrible, like a living corpse although her skin was more brown/red than white! But the size was pretty fitting; every bone was evident under her skin and she was thinner than ever before!

Nearly every power had left her body and although she had no more energy, she kept walking. As long as her feet would carry her, she would go on walking! All that mattered was to find Jane and she was sure she would find him. Sometime… Somewhere… But she definitely would find him!

* * *

He wasn't used to that much sun and soon he started seeing things which weren't there. One time he saw people walking next to him, the other time he sitting in a car, which turned out to be just a small hill of sand. After drinking something it was better, but only for about one hour, then the hallucinations started setting in again. His body hurt from the heavy backpack and from the walking, but he ignored it; the pain reminded him that he was still alive.

He needed Lisbon… So desperately that he felt better while only thinking about her!

An interesting question crossed his mind: what did he need more, water and shade or Lisbon?

Well, he would definitely choose what currently keeps him alive; Lisbon!

In this hell both would be just the same hard to find.

To distract himself he started thinking about how they had gotten there. Someone was definitely playing with them, but why? Maybe this was like in these bad and unrealistic cop-shows, where people need to get rid of someone and then this person gets exposed somewhere to die a slow, painful death. But if they were supposed to die, why had they gotten backpacks and tools? Probably it wasn't just one person who was doing this to them… Red John maybe?

No, it completely wasn't his style, but actually… Maybe he wanted them to think it was someone else or someone else wanted them to think it was Red John or maybe he was just going crazy. Third option was the most fitting, he thought. Probably he would be walking in a small circle in one hour and bark like a dog or so… Maybe he would turn into an animal! Oh, hopefully he would become a panther, he loved those! As a panther he could run faster and then find Lisbon! But would she love a panther? Would she love him just as he loved her at all? What if she would tell him to leave her alone? What if she would yell at him and tell him that she hated him?! Panic blurred his sight and he started stumbling. Suddenly he had a knife in his hand; how had it gotten there…?!

Okay, he told himself, stay calm and think rationally. He tried, but the stupid worry wouldn't get less! His trembling eyes suddenly caught a big rock formed like a mushroom!

Under it was shade… He needed to cool down and walked towards it. Maybe it was just an illusion, but when he touched the hot stone he grinned, really like mad!

He sat down under it, into the shade, and drank a little sip of his water.

Immediately he realized that he actually had been getting crazy; the worry was away and left a fluffy cloud in his head. At least it felt like a fluffy cloud…

He had to wait until the sun gets less, or he would think those stupid things again…

Actually the question if Lisbon loved him was a good one! He shouldn't be thinking about that… He would just have to find it out.

* * *

The sun was burning onto her unbearably and she felt like her head would explode the very next moment. Actually, in the medical way, she must have died by now. Too long time without 'good' water and too much sun!

Without the backpack walking was a little bit easier, but she had just the jacket and the knife remaining… Who knew if she might need the other stuff later!

It was afternoon and the sun was shining directly into her eyes, so she just noticed the cliff when she stood two inches away from the narrow gap. She slowly took a few steps back and stared at the gap. How the hell did this get here into the desert?! Of course it must be possible somehow, but strange though… Like completely out of place and unnatural…

But that wasn't that important for now. She was just glad that it was day, because at night she would've fallen into the gap! But now at day she could get over with a good jump.

She left the gap behind and walked further through the sand, which slowly looked too familiar to her. She definitely wouldn't go to the beach any time soon if she ever would get home again. At the moment she easily could've been a part of a horror movie; scars, tousled hair, crazy expression, a knife in the hand, her bones… That didn't matter though.

As it was getting dark and cold, she put on her jacket again. Walking was so boring when you ignored the pain… You see the same things all the time; just sand and sand and sand…

Everything looked like she'd spend the night alone again, although she had prayed not to.

Then the same scenario as the night before followed; she tried to fight and walked for another hour before she had to give up. The only difference was that this time, the feeling of being dead didn't stop.

* * *

When the sun had started setting, Jane had been waking up from his nap under the mushroom rock. He felt a little bit guilty now for wasting time, but he wouldn't have been a help for her if he had died because of the sun.

Now that it was dark he was walking again. It was really horribly cold, but that didn't matter.

Walking was so boring when you ignored the pain, especially when you just see sand!

He kept walking until the sun started rising again and to his surprise didn't get too tired.

The morning sun wasn't too warm, so it felt nice after the cold night.

When he stood on top of a higher hill he sighed and looked around. There was nothing else but sand… Wait, actually there was something different!

On top of another high hill there was something else… He couldn't tell what it was, but curiously he ran up and down a few other hills until he stopped under the hill he wanted to reach. Quietly he walked up the hill and when he reached the top, his heart felt like flowing onto the ground in a puddle.

" Lisbon… " He whispered, but wasn't sure yet if it only was another hallucination.

Quickly he dropped his backpack and kneeled down next to her. She was sleeping, but he had to make sure that she was real, so he reached out to stroke about her face.

His heart jumped when he felt her skin under his fingers and immediately life started making sense again! He felt so happy and relieved and so many other things he hardly could put in words. In the next moment she opened her eyes slightly.

" Am I in heaven? " She asked sleepily.

" No… " He breathed. " Rather pretty close to hell. "

She smiled and wrapped his arms around him so tightly he couldn't breath.

" Are you real? " She asked.

" Yea… " He hugged her back and she buried her face into his neck.

" I'm glad to have you back… " She smiled.

" I'm also glad to have you back and I'll never let you go again. " He stroked her back slightly. " I realized plenty of things out here, you know… "

" Me too. "

" I love you; I love you so much more than you probably can imagine! " He whispered and pulled her even closer.

" I love you too… " She whispered. " More than my own life. "

" I couldn't die before telling you the truth… " He laughed quietly.

" Don't die now; I need you too much… " She whined.

They stayed silent for a while and just enjoyed each other's presence. The world could stop now, they didn't care. All that mattered was that they had finally found each other, in more than one way.

When they let go of each other, nearly thirty minutes later, they stared at each other.

" You have my ring… " Jane smiled.

" Yea… It saved me a few times and gave me hope. " She smiled back. " Do you want to have it back? "

" No no no… You can keep it for now, until I give you a new one. " He answered. " I have your cross by the way. I understand now why you always wear it; it helped me so much! "

" I'm glad it helped you. You can also keep it… " She said. Jane smiled as he realized that she hadn't understood the double meaning of his last sentence. Well, probably it was the best for now. He took her smaller hands in his and interlaced their fingers.

" I've missed you… " He smiled.

" Yea, I've missed you too! " She answered quickly.

Her hands started shivering suddenly and she nearly fainted.

" What's up? " He asked and laid her head into his lap. " Are you ok? "

She just stared into his eyes and didn't move.

He reached over to his backpack and got the bottle out of it. " Here, try to drink something! "

She obeyed, but it didn't get better.

" Must be the toxin… " She murmured before everything went black.

When her eyes fluttered open again, it was colder than before. She was curled up against chest and he had his arms wrapped around her.

" Thank God, you're awake again! " He said and looked at her worried.

She nodded and looked around; they were lying in the shade under some sort of giant rock.

He let her drink something again and then they both sat up again.

" Are you feeling better now? " He asked and took her hands again, like before.

She nodded and smiled. " Much better, although I don't really get what was happening. "

" You said it must be the toxic, what did you mean? " He asked.

" Oh well, I was in some kind of ghost city and there was a fountain, I drank the water and then found out that it was toxic… But it can't be that; that was two days ago or so… Nothing has happened before! "

She could see the pure shock and worry in his eyes. " Don't worry, I'm better now! "

" Sure? "

" Yes, Patrick, I'm sure. " She smiled and squeezed his hands lightly.

" Good…" He answered and smiled back. " Can… Uhm… Can I hug you again? "

She laughed and her love for him grew even larger if that was still possible; this was just too sweet. " Of course… " She whispered and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He hugged her tightly and breathed in her sweet scent. " I love you… "

" I love you too… " She answered.

" You won't leave me again, will you? " He asked with shaking voice.

" No, I promise, I'm just yours. " She answered smiling.

" Good! " He murmured. " Now we just need to get out of hell. "

* * *

** It's not over yet, so please continue following!**


	4. Chapter 4

The sun was setting and gave the sand a golden touch. Together with the dark red sky it gave a beautiful picture! Both Jane and Lisbon got out of the shade and sat down in front of the rock onto the warm sand.

" If we wouldn't be stuck here I could even enjoy this beautiful sight… " Said Lisbon and smiled a little. " But I'm happy; more than ever before. "

" Really? " Asked Jane wondering and pulled her closer to himself.

" Yes, really! I could actually die now, doesn't matter when you're with me. " She smiled at him now.

" Meh, I wouldn't want to die yet… There's still something I need to do. " He answered and smiled back.

" Are you going to tell me what you wanna do or do I have to guess? "

" Even better, " He breathed. " I'm going to show you… "

Slowly he leant closer to her, closer until their lips touched.

Pure fire ran through her veins in that moment and she was sure he could feel it in the way she kissed him back. It was sweet, slow… yet passionate.

" What have I been doing without you all those years… " He smiled as they broke apart.

" You've missed something! " She smiled shyly, blushed a little bit and continued watching the sun. Jane instead watched her and smiled. " You're really beautiful! "

" Thanks… " She smiled. " You don't look bad yourself with your golden curls… "

" What is it that every woman loves about my hair? I mean it's just hair! " He laughed.

" Uhm… I don't know but I love it as well! " Smiling she buried her hand into his hair.

" I'm all yours, my love, I'm all yours. " Jane in return, pulled her off the sand and sat her down in his lap.

" Then kiss me! " She pouted like a little girl and wrapped her arms around his neck.

" You're such a romantic… " He grinned and obeyed to her wish happily.

The sun had disappeared already when they broke apart and it was getting cold again.

They got their jackets from under the rock and Jane asked. " Where are we going to sleep tonight? I'd say under the rock; then the sun tomorrow morning… "

She cut him off, " I already made that mistake; don't sleep under a rock! "

" Uhm, okay… What would you say then? "

" On top of the rock; that's good! " She smiled and stepped next to the rock.

" How do we get up there? " Asked Jane worried.

" Well, I'll climb up there, but you also can fly if you want. " She teased and nearly laughed about her own joke. But the rock was pretty high; higher than the other one, so she stopped laughing really soon. She turned to face the rock and suddenly Jane lifted her up.

" Patrick! What are you doing! " She laughed and tried not to loose her balance.

" I just give you a little help! " He smiled.

She climbed up the rest of the rock quickly, this time without hurting herself.

" Thanks! " She said down to Jane.

" How do I get up there? " He asked. " Should I climb? "

" C'mon, you can do that! " She said and took his backpack up to her.

Quickly Jane was up on the rock as well. " I hate climbing… "

" Wow, you were up here really fast! I'm impressed! " She laughed. " Unfortunately it's too dark to see your face now… "

He sat down next to her and placed his hand on her cheek. " See… " He said quietly and stroked about her whole carefully. " That's much better than seeing with your eyes. "

Her smile faded as he took her hand and placed it on his own cheek. " Let your hand see what your eyes can't… " He breathed.

His one hand was still caressing her cheek and they sat now opposite to each other.

Slowly her hand wandered from his cheek to his temples and all over his face.

" It's not that difficult, is it? " He asked gently.

She shook her head and smiled. " It isn't. "

He let go of her and laid down directly next to her. " Have you ever seen so many stars? "

She looked up into the sky and laid down next to him. " No… You? "

" No, not really! " He said and yawned.

Sighing Lisbon laid her head on his chest and interlaced their fingers.

" I love you… " Said Jane quietly and laid his arm around her, pulling her eyen closer.

" Love you too… " She murmured and fell asleep.

Some hours later Jane woke up to Lisbon crying and talking in her sleep.

Quickly he sat up and rested her against him. " Teresa! Wake up! "

She clasped his shirt and buried her head into his, but didn't wake up.

He kissed her forehead and gently stroked about her back. " I'm here; everything's alright! "

Her breath got more normal and slowly she opened her eyes. " Patrick… "

" Yea… I'm here! " He breathed. " Did you have a nightmare? "

She nodded and brushed her tears away.

" Do you want to tell me about it? " He asked and pulled her closer.

" I don't wanna bother you with that… " She whispered.

As an answer he hugged her so tightly that there was no space between them any longer.

" Well, I dreamed that… It's so stupid… " She excused.

" Just tell me… "

" I dreamed that I'm alone again… That you are gone, that you left me. " She said. " It was so real… "

" Don't worry! I'm still here! And I won't leave you, never ever! " He reassured her, laid down again and pulled her down with him. Again she was lying half on top of him and relaxed slowly.

" Sleep… I'll chase all the bad dreams away, I promise. " He smiled.

Slowly she nodded and then her breath got slow again.

When she woke up the next time, their positions had changed; Jane was lying behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist. The sun was about to raise, but it still wasn't warm.

She smiled; waking up like this was like heaven! Hopefully she would wake up like this more often now! Some time later she fell back asleep, just as the sun reached their sleeping bodies on the rock. Soon it tickled Jane's ear which made him wake up. He opened his eyes and saw that Lisbon was sleeping directly in front of him. Sighing he let go of her waist, although she squeaked when he did so, and watched her. How the red sunlight was playing on her skin was just breathtaking and he would've loved to take a photo just to show her how beautiful she was. Sometimes she seemed to forget this…

The sun started burning painfully after some time, but he wondered how he should get her down from the rock!

Well, if he couldn't get her into the shade, he would have to bring the shade to her.

So he sat down in between of her and the sun, letting her sleep in his shadow.

About thirty minutes later also Lisbon woke up, the third time now.

She blinked a few times and then sat up, next to Jane.

" Good morning! " He said cheerfully. " Ready to get out of hell? "

She smiled and nodded. " Good morning to you as well! "

They both drank something and then jumped off the rock.

" In which direction will we go now? " Asked Lisbon.

" I don't know… Let's just see where we end up! "

So they just silently walked into any direction and hoped that it was the right one.

Some minutes later, she took Jane's hand, for no reason, just because it felt right.

He smiled and then even grinned.

" What is so funny? " Asked Lisbon wondering. " I know it's not like me… Must be the lack of food and water and the burning sun all the time! But actually, I enjoy being like this! "

" No, it's not that; you're doing perfectly fine. I was just thinking about something really funny. "

" And what was that? "

" You really wanna know?! " He asked teasing.

She playfully punched him in the shoulder with her other hand. " Of course! "

" Just imagine the two of us walking around at a crime scene, holding hands! " He said.

She looked at him, and in the next second started laughing heavily.

" That image is stuck in my head forever now; thank! " She said as she was able to talk in whole sentences again.

" I told you it was funny! "

" Yea, you did… "

A longer time of silence followed again, but then Jane said, " I'm glad you love me… "

Wondering she looked at him, " Yea, me too! "

" Do you believe that we'll get out of this place again? " He asked.

" This desert has already done one miracle, why not another? "

" Will we tell the others about, well, about us? "

" I'm sure they already know… " Said Lisbon quietly and stopped, frozen in her move as suddenly a big helicopter appeared above them.

" Whatever this might be, " She said.

" We'll face it together! " He finished her sentence and interlaced their fingers.


	5. Chapter 5

The black helicopter landed on the sand and swirled it around in the air. In the next moment, four men in army clothes and with large guns jumped out of it.

" Go! They are somewhere around here! " Shouted one of them. " Shoot at everything what moves! "

" They don't look like they're here to rescue us… " Said Lisbon quietly and pulled Jane further away, behind a sand hill.

" What is going on here? " Asked Jane quietly. " Who are these people?! "

" I have no idea… " She looked at him thoughtfully. " And it looks like they want to kill us! "

" What will we do now? " Asked Jane.

" You're the one for strange plans! " She said quietly and looked around.

" Walk into another direction as fast as possible I'd suggest. "

She nodded. " Let me just look if they come into our direction. "

Quietly she went to the top of the hill and looked down at the four men who were coming closer too quickly.

" Teresa; come down here again! " Said Jane worried. " They might see you! "

" Psst! " She hissed and continued watching them. Suddenly one of them pointed in her direction and the others started running towards the hill.

In record time Lisbon was down the hill again and they started running into the opposite direction of the guys.

" They're following us; it's easy to see our footprints in the sand! " Said Lisbon.

" Well, then we have to be faster! " Answered Jane. " At least they can't shoot here on long distances! "

They heard suddenly a few shots coming from behind them as if they'd heard what Jane just had said.

" Okay, maybe they can! " Corrected Jane himself with a little bit of panic in his voice.

" Just keep running! " Ordered Lisbon, " And don't get shot! "

" I'll try… " He said and smiled, although the situation didn't give much to smile about.

" Will you for once do what I say? " Asked Lisbon after some time.

" Do you have a plan? " Asked Jane a little bit excited.

She nodded, but asked again " Will you do what I say, Patrick? "

" Yes. " A short answer was sometimes the best one.

" We'll go to the ghost city… " Lisbon told him. " They can't see footprints on stone. "

" You remember the direction? " He asked surprised.

Again she nodded. " I don't exactly know if it's the right way, but I recognize some of the rocks. "

" The rocks? They all look the same! " He said worried. " I just hope that it is the right way. "

" I needed two days from the city to were you found me. " She explained. " Probably I took a longer way, so we could be there earlier! "

" We don't survive a night with them two hills behind us! " He said.

" They're not behind us any longer; they're probably back at their helicopter. I mean would you prefer a helicopter or walking? "

" They must have reached it by now… We'll die soon. " Said Jane and suddenly stopped.

Lisbon stopped as well and stepped directly in front of Jane. " We won't die, Patrick! You need to think positive! "

" I can't see anything positive in it… " Said Jane quietly.

" I promise you we won't die! " She said. " Trust me… "

He nodded and hugged her. " Thank you…"

" Always. " She smiled. " But we have to go on now! "

Sighing Jane started running again, next to her, with new hope. Even if they'd die, they'd die together.

Soon they reached the gap in the ground which Lisbon had already crossed once before.

" It can't be that close… " Said Lisbon. " And the helicopter must've been here by now! "

" Maybe we're lucky! " Said Jane.

" This all isn't normal! Someone is playing a really sick game with us! "

They jumped over the gap quickly and went on.

The sun was setting already and both Jane and Lisbon couldn't walk anymore.

But they had to; although the helicopter was not in sight, it could come back every second.

When the sun was diving into the waves of the sea of sand, they stopped on top of a high hill.

" You have to look around carefully! " Said Lisbon. " It's pretty far away! "

" Nop. " He said, " It's not! " He stepped behind her and pointed over her shoulder to a small point on the horizon.

Lisbon leaned the back of her head against his shoulder. " I hope this whole fighting is worth it… "

" You're worth it, that's enough! " Jane smiled and kissed the top of her head.

" Love you…" She whispered.

" Too. "

" C'mon, we're close to the city! Whatever you've planned, I'm sure it will be good! "

Quickly they ran down the hill, well, more slid down, and hurried into the direction which seemed to promise them savage.

It was already dark when they reached the edge of the city, but the frames of the houses were visible very well. Quietly they walked into it, slow in opposite to their running before.

" Wow, and you were here all alone? " Asked Jane while he stared at the scary houses.

" Yea! And in the sunlight it's not less scary! "

" Poor you! " He said and stepped into one of the houses.

Lisbon stayed in the doorframe while Jane looked around in the house.

Surprisingly the stars gave enough light to even see all the details.

" Teresa? "

" What is it? " She asked quietly and walked over to him.

When she stood directly behind him, he suddenly turned around and kissed her on the lips.

She needed a second to get what was happening, but then kissed him back.

" Was that what you wanted? " She asked as they broke apart. " Kissing me? "

He smiled and nodded. " Yea, I think that was it. "

" You're so silly… " She smiled and kissed him once more, just for a few seconds.

Then she kneeled down a few steps away from him and looked at the ground.

Curious Jane stepped behind her and saw what she was doing. On the ground were lying pieces of a broken mirror and Lisbon was putting them together again, like a puzzle.

Jane kneeled down next to her and watched her in silence until the mirror was complete again.

" Why have you put it together? " He asked more or less in a whisper.

" Because it gave me enough peace to think about what might be coming next without getting panic. " She breathed.

" Oh well, that's uhm… clever! " He smiled. " And what is your plan? "

She stood up and pulled him out of the house.

Outside they could hear the helicopter and see its lights searching on the ground like hungry yellow eyes.

" They will be here really soon! " Said Lisbon and looked around. " They're looking for a place to land. "

" And what… " She cut him off with pulling him through the streets until she reached a certain building. The sound of the helicopter had died and therefore was replaced by shouting people now.

Lisbon pulled Jane through a house towards the market place and the fountain.

She stopped when they both stood in front of it. " You trust me, don't you? "

The people behind them got louder and louder and they could even see their flashlights.

" Of course I trust you! " He answered.

" Then jump into the fountain. It's deep and large enough for both of us! " She ordered.

" Didn't you say that the water was toxic? " He said panicking.

" I thought about it, Patrick! And after all it doesn't matter if we die because of toxin or because of these guys! "

" Yea… Okay, uhm, then I'll jump down there just like this? "

She nodded and put the rope down into the dark black hole of the fountain.

" C'mon! " She begged. " I'm right behind you! "

He took a deep breath, climbed over the edge and jumped down. With a splash he reached the water surface. Now also Lisbon climbed over the edge and jumped down.

The coldness of the water hit her like a punch in the stomach. But it felt good to feel the water all around her. When she broke through the water surface it was completely dark.

" Patrick? " She whispered.

" Yea… " She heard behind her back and felt a hand on her shoulder.

Quickly she turned around, but didn't see anything. So she reached out until she felt his neck under her fingertips.

He captured her hand before she could pull away again and kissed her knuckles.

" They'll look into this fountain for sure… " He whispered. " But we should just dive under. "

" That was the plan… " She breathed and looked up where the light got brighter and brighter.

" What if they shoot into the water? " Asked Jane worried.

" Have some faith! " She answered confidently, although she was shivering out of fear now.

Honestly, she hadn't even thought about that and now she was blaming herself for it.

" You're scared as well, aren't you? " He was really close to her now and could whisper in her ear.

She nodded and felt tears building up. To hide the cry which bubbled in her throat, she bit her bottom lip.

Although he couldn't see her, he could feel her; he could feel that she nodded and that she was trying not to cry. Reassuring he leaned her cheek against his shoulder and just held her tightly.

But suddenly the light and voices got really close and one of those guys suggested looking into the fountain.

Lisbon made a silent signal and they both dived under and tried to get as deep as possible.

When she looked up she saw them looking down, but then after some time, disappear again.

Quietly she surfaced again, Jane following.

" Are they away? " He asked quietly.

" I think so… " She breathed. " Should we get up there again? "

" Yea… " He answered quickly.

Lisbon searched for the rope in the darkness and when she finally found it, started climbing up. It seemed to take ages until she reached the edge of the fountain, but after all she got out of it.

" How do I get out of this? " Asked Jane, " I can't climb on ropes! "

" Uhm… Try to walk on the wall of the fountain! "

He tried it and obviously it seemed to work good enough to get up until he could reach Lisbon's hand. She did her best to pull him up the rest of the wall and finally after a lot of work they both fell onto the dusty ground.

" You know that you're heavy, don't you? " She asked breathless.

" And do you know that you're light as a feather? " He asked in return. " Let's sleep in some building; I'm so tired! "

" Okay… " She sighed and stood up. They went to the next building which was around, which turned out to be pretty scary, but they laid down in it though.

" I'm freezing… " Said Lisbon quietly.

He laid down behind her and wrapped her in his embrace; she was shivering under his hands, but slowly relaxed.

" Your plan was really good until now… " He whispered into her ear.

" Hhmmm… " She murmured what probably should be an answer.

" Sleep well my love… " He said and closed his eyes for a hopefully peaceful night!


	6. Chapter 6

Her eyes fluttered open to sunlight flooding the dusty room. She felt Jane's arms around her waist and smiling she turned around to looked into his open eyes.

For a short while the world felt whole again as he hugged her even closer to his chest.

" Good morning Teresa… " He whispered and kissed her lips. " Did you sleep well? "

She nearly laughed and nodded. " Yea, I did. And you? "

" How could I not with you in my arms? " He answered.

Sighing she closed her eyes again and cuddled deeper into his side. " I don't want to go back to reality… Can we just stay like this forever? " Of course she knew that sooner or later they would have to face the situation they were in, but that could wait another five minutes.

He smiled and sighed as well. " Tomorrow… "

" If there's a tomorrow. " She added critically and sat up.

" Of course there is a tomorrow! " He sat up as well and looked straight into her eyes. " We just need to fight for it! "

" We will. " Said Lisbon and she stood up. " We will fight till the end! "

" We better start with that now before we die here! " Jane stood up as well.

Carefully they made their way through the house, over the market place to the street they'd been coming from.

" Do you think they're still somewhere here? " Asked Jane in a whisper.

" I guess so… What would we do after all? " She asked kind of rhetoric.

" What do you mean? Are we haunting helpless people in the desert? "

" Actually we do exactly that every day. " She said and concentrated on the dark corners of the street.

" Yea, okay, you're right. And we would wait outside of the city till the people we look for come out! "

" Exactly… "

" But… " He stopped walking. " We wouldn't have time to wait forever, so we would find something to chase them out of their place. "

Lisbon stopped now as well and stepped in front of Jane. " What exactly would 'we' do to get them out? "

" Oh, what we would do doesn't matter here; this is something else. They want to kill us, not arrest us. " He said thoughtfully.

" Patrick, we need to get out here as fast as possible… " She whispered slightly shocked.

" I know… " He answered and although they had less than no more time, he hugged her quickly. " Everything will be alright in the end… "

" And if it's not alright? " She asked and clasped his shirt on his back.

" Then, my love, it's not the end. "

They quietly went on and crossed some parts of the city Lisbon hadn't even noticed before.

" I'm sure it wasn't that big last time… " She said quietly.

" Maybe the people who play with us thought it was funny to make it a bit bigger so that we can have a real hide and seek game here! "

" I never liked that game… " Answered Lisbon. " Only when I had the seek part. "

" I never had anyone to play with when I was young… " Said Jane sadly.

" Oh, poor Patty… " She laughed quietly.

" I admire how you can still cheer me up although we can already feel death's breath on the skin of our neck. "

Her smile faded and was replaced by tears glimmering in her eyes. " At least it works sometimes. " quickly she brushed a tears away. " I feel so weak right now… "

His heart broke little at her expression. " That you cry doesn't mean that you're weak… " Once more he wrapped her in his embrace " It just means that you've been strong for too long. "

" You won't tell anyone about this, I mean… " She said quietly but her voice died in the middle of the sentence.

" I won't… " He promised. " Although nobody would think any less of you. "

" I can't put in words how happy I am to finally have someone who holds me while I'm crying… You know, that's something I've really never had. "

" You've me now, although that's not really first choice… "

" What are you talking about; of course you're first choice! I'm the second choice here… "

" Ready to go on? " He asked gently and felt her nodding. They let go of each other and walked on. It was nearly too quiet around them; they could even hear the other's heartbeat!

" I've a question. " Said Lisbon after some time.

" I'm listening. "

" It's kind of biological. " She said. " Why are we still alive; I mean so long without food is possible, but I must have like a giant lack of water! "

" I don't know; I'm just happy that you're still alive! "

" You think me not? I'm not even that thirsty… Could be worse! "

" We better hurry though. " He said.

After some time they reached a house that looked different than the others; it was slightly bigger and not as dirty as the others.

" Hey, something's up with that house… " Said Lisbon and hid behind a corner just in time to see some of the soldiers walking towards the entrance.

" Are you still sure they work like we do? " Asked Jane. " I mean this is kind of strange, don't you think? "

" Hush! " She hissed and covered his mouth with her hand.

" Wa ahe uhe godigh gto dshu nou? " He asked through her hand.

" What? " She removed her hand sighing and stared at him.

" I asked, what are we going to do now? "

Good question, Lisbon thought and looked around the corner once more.

" We should just go to the other side of the city… " Jane suggested and pulled on her arms.

Quietly she nodded and both hurried into the opposite direction.

" I feel like an animal, chased around in its cage. " She said as they were far enough away to be heard.

" Actually we are exactly that… " Answered Jane.

" I don't like it though. " She pouted.

As they reached the other side of the city, the next surprise was following; the are looked exactly like the one they had left! The same houses, the same people, just everything was the same.

" What the hell is going on here… " Asked Lisbon kind of rhetoric.

Once again they stood there on the same wall and watched the soldiers.

Only this time, Lisbon went closer, just into the shadow of the next house, but it was enough to see more.

There were six soldiers in the house, each one with a large gun and obviously much other stuff, Lisbon didn't even want to find out about.

Quickly she sneaked back to Jane and told him about what she had seen. Then they just went into any direction, hoping that it was the right one.

" We can't go on like this forever… " Said Jane after some time. " We need to do anything else! "

" I can't remember to have seen any of those houses when I was here at first! "

" Does that still surprise you? "

" No, not really… "

Suddenly Lisbon stopped, frozen in her move.

" What's up? " Asked Jane and stopped as well.

Lisbon pointed through two windows of the house next to them. Two of the army guys were walking directly into their direction and there was no way of escaping!

" Teresa? " Asked Jane quietly.

" Run… " She whispered, turned around and ran into the other direction, again, with Jane following close behind her.

The two guys seemed to have noticed them now, because Lisbon heard them shouting and running not far behind her and Jane.

Panicking they ran through the streets, blinded by danger, knowing that there was no escape anymore. More soldiers seemed to come from every direction now and shots fell.

" Patrick? " Lisbon asked, breathless, while running.

" Yea? " She heard him say from very close behind her.

" I just needed to make sure that you're still there… "

Suddenly they reached a street which seemed to flow into the sand of the desert on the other side. It was straight and open and so there was less protection from shots than in the city.

" Hurry… " Lisbon shouted as they ran along the street which seemed to be endless. They ran and ran but didn't get any closer to the other side! Another, much closer and louder, shot made Lisbon's blood freeze in her veins. Slowly she turned around to a sight which made her heart burst, split into thousands, even millions of sharp pieced which immediately started to hurt everywhere in her body.

She kneeled down, next to Patrick while silent tears made their way down her face.

Blood started mixing with the dust of the ground, forming dark red desert roses next to his body. The world stopped turning, the time stopped running out, the houses got blurred and all Teresa could focus on was Patrick.

" Run, Teresa… " He said quietly to her.

She shook her head, her tears dropping onto his face, mixing with his own.

" Don't leave me, Patrick… You have to keep you eyes open, please! Keep breathing! "

She nearly shouted at him and knew it was too late…

" I love you Teresa… Don't forget that. " He breathed and in the next moment all his muscles relaxed.

" No no no no no… " She kept saying, while she checked his pulse. But there was none anymore; her crying turned into sobbing.

People started entering her world and she stood up. They lifted their guns at her, but instead of running away, she walked towards them. Slowly but completely steady.

She was willing to die; there was nothing to fear about. If not alive, she'd be together with Patrick in death. There was no difference.

A shot, a second of pain and then deep, endless silence.

* * *

Bright light blinded her as her eyes fluttered open. Next to her stood Jane!

" Am I in heaven? " She asked sleepily.

Jane smiled. " No… We're in a hospital."

" Oohh… " She said and blinked a few times until her surroundings got sharp contours again.

Jane sat down on the edge of her bed and held her hand.

" You're not dead? " She asked quietly.

" No, as you see I'm fine! You as well, by the way. " He laughed which made her smile as well. She slowly sat up, without feeling any pain. Without wasting another second she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him so tightly that breathing became difficult for both of them. No words were needed, the way they hugged each other said more than thousand words could've explained.

After some time Jane though had the need to say something, " We both have been in some kind of coma for one week! I woke up a few hours ago… "

" That's good… " She answered, her voice not more than a whisper.

" We're not in a normal hospital… " He whispered now as well. " This is more like a science lab… "

" Doesn't matter. " She answered, " I 'm just so incredible relieved to have you back. "

" Yea… Me too. " He started playing with her hair, " I heard that you were shot from short distance; didn't you run away? "

She shook her head.

" Why not? I don't understand it… "

" You were dead, Patrick. What would you've done if I had died right in front of your eyes? "

" Sorry, that was a dumb question… " He excused. " I love you."

" I love you too! " She pressed her head into his neck.

After some more minutes they let go of each other and Jane stood up from her bed.

" You better get dressed… Not that those hospital things don't look good on you, but it could get cold. " He said and pointed at some clothes at the end of her bed.

She smiled and rolled her eyes. " I'm glad we're not dead. "

After she had put on those clothes, they both left the small room.

" Did you ever see a doctor or so here? " Asked Lisbon quietly.

" No… I actually saw nobody! "

" Then how did you find me? "

" Well, I opened a few doors… " He smiled.

" We should look for somebody to explain all this! " Said Lisbon as they walked through the empty, dark floors. After some time they saw a door under which light was visible.

Actually they would've been careful and stuff, but by now they couldn't care less about what might be behind the door.

With one quick move Jane opened it and both Lisbon and Jane himself were blinded by white light for a few seconds. Slowly their eyes got used to the light though and they saw people sitting on chairs and a couch.

They stepped into the room and felt like being presented; everybody was staring at them.

An elderly man stood up and came to them. " Welcome! " He smiled friendly. " Teresa… Patrick… "

Confused Jane and Lisbon looked at each other than at the man.

" I'm sure you wanna know why you are here! " He motioned them to sit down on a still empty couch. The obeyed, a bit insecure though.

" First of all thank you! " The man said which made both Lisbon and Jane even more worried.

" So, you might not remember this, but you both agreed to be part of an experiment. You signed contracts; if you wanna see them… "

" I would like to see them, please! " Said Lisbon politely. Who knew if those people were important!

The man handed her a punch of papers. " You actually just have to read the first page. "

In the contract stood that she and Jane both had agreed to be part of a longer experiment which is about human reactions in extreme situations. Therefore they'd have to be okay with a lack of water, food, sleep and plenty of other things. Also they obviously had agreed to take medicine which would take them ever memory of having signed this contract.

The whole experiment had been monitored all the time and they never had been in real danger. Newest technology had been tested on them, which made possible to survive up to two weeks without water.

After Lisbon had finished reading it twice she looked at Jane questioning.

" Well… " The man said and took the contract from Lisbon. " Nobody could've guessed that you two would fall in love out there! "

Jane tried to hide a smile and Lisbon blushed lightly.

" Does our boss know about this? " Asked Lisbon after some time.

" He knows that you two are part of a project, but no details. This whole project is like top secret and has high priority for the government. "

" And therefore you picked _us_? " She asked critically.

" We didn't pick you; you two were brought to us! " He said.

Immediately Lisbon sat up straight. " Who brought us here? "

" Oh I don't remember… But he had you two and the signed contract with him, so I guess it was one of your colleagues? "

" Something's not right here… " Whispered Jane into her ear.

She nodded, laid her hand on his and turned to the man again, who looked at her questioning now. " Well, when can we go home? "

" Someone will bring you to the CBI, would that be okay for you? " He said and stood up.

Both Jane and Lisbon nodded. The man left and short time later someone guided them into some kind of parking lot, to a black car. They sat down in it and realized that they couldn't look out of the windows.

" If the government would really have been involved in this then wouldn't have been allowed to see the contracts… " Whispered Lisbon to Jane.

" Yea, we need to find out what's up here! And since we can't tell where we are, we'll have to do some math! "

" What do you mean? " She wondered.

" I'll memorize the directions and you count the minutes for how long we go into one direction, ok? " His voice was so quiet that she could barely hear it.

" That's crazy, but ok! Let's try it! " She said in a shivering breath as the car started moving.

The drive was long, but not too difficult to memorize. Most time they seemed to go into one direction, so Lisbon had to count pretty long times.

After about two hours the car stopped and the doors opened.

" We expect you not to tell anybody about it. " Said the guy who had brought them there and left quickly, leaving Jane and Lisbon standing two blocks away from the CBI.

" They will kill us. " Said Lisbon quietly as they started walking.

" I know… I mean we definitely know too much in their opinion. "

After some minutes they reached the CBI building and stepped into it.

" It's good to be here for now; but who know what these guy can do to us! After all what they did with us, I don't think that they're the type of criminals who would care about killing cops inside their bureau. "

They took the stairs instead of the elevator; the whole thing had made them pretty paranoid.

As they reached their floor, not many people were there anymore, but to their luck their team was.

" Hey guys… " Lisbon said as she stepped next to Rigsby's desk followed by Jane.

Immediately Van Pelt jumped up and came over to them.

" Hey boss, Jane! How was your meeting? " She asked.

Confused Lisbon looked at Jane, but then remembered that probably they had gotten wrong information on purpose.

" I'll explain it in a second, Grace, but right now I need a sheet of paper and a pen! " She said quickly. Obviously confused Rigsby gave her what she had asked for.

Immediately she started writing numbers onto it, then gave the pen to Jane, who wrote letters in the spaces Lisbon had left.

" Okay guys, you really need to explain this now! " Said Rigsby and pointed at the paper and then at their clothes.

" The quick version has to be enough for now! " She started. " Some guys kidnapped us and did some kind of experiment with us. "

Van Pelt and Rigsby shared a confused look while Cho kept staring at the paper in Lisbon's hand.

" Now these guys want to kill us because we know too much! " Continued Jane. " We were brought here from some kind of lab; we have to go there now and arrest these people before it's too late! "

" Uhm, do you know the way? " Asked Rigsby.

Jane help up Lisbon's hand with the paper. " Yep, we can bring you there! "

" Can't you explain what they did with you first? " Asked Grace a bit overwhelmed.

" Horrible things, Grace, horrible things. " Lisbon said as she went to her bureau to pick up her second gun which she kept in her desk.

With some other available agents they went down into the parking lot, Jane and Lisbon into the first one together with their team, the rest behind them.

" So, now we have to think the other way round… " Said Jane and looked onto the paper.

They needed even less time than on the previous way, and so they stood in front of a strange, old house in the middle of a forest.

" Didn't you say that it was a lab? " Asked Grace.

" Well, we started in a parking lot! " He answered.

After some more time of searching, they finally found the entrance.

Lisbon was horribly tired and just hoped that it was over soon.

When she got out of the car, her legs felt weak like jello.

Then everything went by pretty fast; they actually had nothing to arrest them for at first, but then they went to check their licenses it came out that they did illegal experiments and faked signatures. Probably with some digging they'd find even more.

But first of all they went back to the CBI. Time ran by really fast and it was already evening when they were done with the most important stuff.

" You can go home… " Said Lisbon to the team. " We'll do the rest tomorrow. "

Then she went to her office and got her keys; her and Jane's stuff had been found in one of the lab rooms. Quickly she looked around the office and nearly ran into Jane.

" What are you looking for? " He asked.

" You. " She said, grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her car.

After a short drive they arrived at her apartment and he followed her inside like a lost puppy.

" I'm so incredible tired. " She yawned as she locked the door behind them.

" Yea, me too. Can I sleep on the couch then? "

" Patrick, we spent an eternity together in the desert; do you honesty believe that I'll ever let you sleep on my couch? "

He smiled and followed her up to her room. Quickly she changed and fell flat onto her bed.

" Did you believe that we would get home again? " She asked sleepily.

" Actually not. " He confessed as he laid down next to her.

As soon as he lay still, she leaned over him and kissed him on the lips.

" This 'adventure' had one positive thing! " He said as they broke apart and she laid her head on his chest.

" Yea, I found out that you make a good pillow! " She smiled and pulled the covers up to her nose.

" Except for that… "He smiled as well, " I realized that… "

She cut with words. " Just move in with me, we call us officially couple and everything's fine! "

" Well, my love, that's the easiest way to say it. "


End file.
